Netflix Vs Amazon Prime – Which Of The Streaming Services Is The Best In 2022 And Which One Is Right For You

Display resolutions on every electronic device are getting better each day; you need to be certain whether the video you stream matches the quality of your display.

Netflix offers three subscription tiers when it comes to quality.

Basic – SD (480p)

Standard – Full HD (1080p)

Premium – Ultra HD (4K)

Streaming quality on Netflix solely depends on the subscription plan you purchase; the higher you go with the price, the better your streaming quality will be.

However, it’s important to note that not all the content on Netflix will have a 4k option for you, but only a select few will have it. Netflix only provides a 4k option for the top-tier subscription, limiting the quality for the other two plans.

On the contrary, with an annual Amazon Prime subscription fee, you can stream any media available on the platform at the highest quality possible by default. If you’re lucky, some content will have the 4k streaming option.

When it comes to pricing, Amazon Prime Video has cheaper plans than Netflix. Netflix offers three different pricing option, which starts the Basic at $9.99 USD, Standard at $15.49, and Premium at $19.99 USD per month.

In addition, Netflix also provides its Mobile plan that you can stream on any smartphone. This plan supports only one active screen at a time, along with a single device downloading option. Although you may not get the best video quality on this plan, you can still stream it on the big screen like your laptop or TV if you’re willing to compromise the quality. Just a quick note, this plan is not available in the States.

A quick look at the Netflix subscription plan:

• Basic at $9.99/mo.
• Standard at 1$5.49/mo.
• Premium at $19.99/mo.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has two straightforward membership plans that you purchase annually or monthly. You can get regular Prime Video for just $8.99, a dollar less than Netflix’s basic plan. At the same time, you can get Amazon Prime Full membership which includes Prime Video at just 14.99, lesser than the Netflix Standard plan.

A quick look at Amazon Prime Pricing:

• Amazon Prime Subscription at $14.99/mo.
• Prime Video at $8.99/mo.
• Annual Prime Subscription at $139 dollars.

However, if you purchase its annual membership plan, the price gets way down, saving you more than $40 dollars. Prime Video is an obvious choice to get the sheer value for your money. Not to mention, Prime also has a budget student membership plan that costs $7.49/mo and $69 dollars if you purchase it annually.

Netflix simultaneous screening depends on the plan you purchase. Netflix allows only one active screen at a time for its Basic plan. If you need to stream Netflix shows on multiple devices simultaneously, you need a Standard plan that allows up to two simultaneous streams at one time.

However, if you’ve multiple viewers in your household or your circle, you need a Premium plan that comes at $19.99 and allows you to stream up to 4 devices simultaneously.

If we talk about Amazon Prime, it allows 3 concurrent streams on its platform and lets you stream the same content two times.

If we compare device compatibility, Netflix has an endless list of brands that have the access to its feature. To name a few, Smart TVs, media players, games consoles, smartphones, Blu-ray players, and some paid TV devices from Virgin Media, BT, and Sky.

Over the past few years, Amazon Prime Video has been widely available. As a result, up to this date, both Netflix and Amazon Prime support almost all the major streaming devices, along with smartphones, laptops, or tablets that might have different features and operating systems.

However, if you pick one, the most reliable and risk-free option would be Netflix, as it supports slightly more devices due to its wide popularity in the media streaming industry.

As for user experience, Netflix appears ahead in the game than Amazon Prime. With its sleek and navigable design, you can easily search for your favorite show and watch it instantaneously from the top corner search icon as a first-time user.

On the other hand, accessing Prime Video as a first-time user is rather a complicated and tedious process. What sets Netflix apart in this context, though, is that Netflix provides search hints for the user while Prime Video’s search bar doesn’t.

Since Prime Video is housed within many services of the Amazon marketplace, it might not cater well to the user experience, while Netflix is 100% invested in giving its user the ultimate experience.

Netflix has a deeper understanding of users’ preferences and behavior. As a result, the search is fast, dynamic, and far closer to the relevancy of the topic. While search can seem effortless on Netflix, Amazon Prime doesn’t have much of options for switching between different genres and categories.

On Netflix, you can personalize five profiles and limit viewing options by requiring code to access its content. As for Amazon Prime Video, it’s a bit more complicated to create user profiles. With Netflix, you can change icons for your different profiles.

Both platforms allow users to download movies and shows for offline viewing, no matter your subscription plan. So that while you travel or have no access to the internet, you can still stream your favorite show and enjoy it.

Netflix’s basic plan lets your download and stream videos up to 100 but is limited to only one device. If you have a Standard (2 devices) or Premium plan (4 devices), you can download and stream to multiple devices.

With Prime Video, you can download and stream onto multiple devices without having to pay extra bucks that pay on Netflix. However, in Prime Video, your download caps out at 25.

In terms of quantity, the Prime Video library beats out Netflix as it features thousands more unique titles. Prime Video has over 24,000 movies along with 2100 TV series, giving you plenty of options to choose from. While Netflix contains around 15000 unique titles.

Well, if you talk about original titles, Netflix has over 2000 original titles as of 2022 and has managed to earn 15 Academy Awards and numerous nominations. In comparison with Netflix, Prime Video falls behind on an original title basis.

Putting all these comparisons aside, it all comes down to your content preferences. With Prime Video, you can expect a modest content catalog, popular shows, movies, and older content. Such as Transparent, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Man in the High Castle, The Grand Tour, The Wire, Six Feet Under, and a kid’s show SpongeBob & Dora the Explorer.

Comparatively, Netflix has some fresh and high-quality content concepts that comprise reality shows, documentaries, and docuseries. So despite its higher price, most prefer Netflix over Prime Video.

For example, ‘Stranger Things’ alone pulled off 400 Million hours of watch time during its first month of release. Another popular drama series, ’13 Reasons Why’, has doubled its watch time. Some other Netflix originals are Narcos, Sacred Games, Ozark, Hemlock Grove, Black Mirror, and Marco Polo.

One thing to note, if you purchase any Netflix plan, you’ll still get access to all of its content, meaning you don’t have to pay extra bucks, whereas some Prime Video content needs you to pay extra.

As Prime Video is one of many Amazon services in its marketplace, you get tons of additional benefits if you subscribe to its annual plan, which costs you just $12/mo.

With Amazon Prime membership, you get shipping, shopping, streaming benefits, and get access to thousands of Kindle ebooks that you can find in the Prime Reading library.

If you’re an Amazon shopper, play video games, or use any of the services from its marketplace, you can get the highest return on investment compared to Netflix, which solely focuses on providing videos on demand.

If you want the sheer value for your money with the best ROI measure, the ideal option would be Amazon Prime. However, if you just want to enjoy watching high-quality shows consistently, Netlfix is indeed a go-to VOD platform that fits right up your alley.